It was e.e. cummings, I used to love this when I was an early teenager about a conscientious objector [“i sing of Olaf glad and big”]. There was one line, “there is some shit I will not eat,” that reverberated in my social conscience since probably age 12. There comes a point when there is something out there that we have to reject ultimately, and we have to throw ourselves on the wheel to stop it — even if the wheel devours us.

The boycott of taxes is so strong, so potentially powerful, that I guess I am urging other people to go forward without fear. We are right. War is wrong. We are approaching the totalitarian state. Take from them their finances, and we take their strength. Eliminate the nexus between corporate wealth and industry and politics. In this era there is so much to protest against, and tax is a very salient part of that.

A note about “frivolous filing” notices. The IRS has gotten in the habit of responding to taxpayer protests with $5,000 frivolous filing penalties — even if the protests accompany a tax return that has been filled out correctly and legally. What’s worse is that by the IRS’s rules, in order to appeal such a fine, you have to first pay it.

Peace activists have a resource of financial support when they accrue penalties for resisting taxes, participating in civil disobedience or in nonviolent direct action. Through the PSC, the cost of a person’s or family’s penalty can be defrayed by almost 100%. This is possible because a community of almost one hundred people have come together and committed to help each other with their fines.

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